A Study Of Teacher’s Code-switching In Non-english Major Classroom Teaching From Adaptation Theory Perspective

Verschueren proposes a new adaptation theory to analyze code-switching from pragmaticperspective in his book Understanding of Pragmatics. He believes that using languages is theprocess of choosing a suitable language, which depends on three features of language:variability, negotiability and adaptability. Adaptability is the core among the three featuresbecause it is dynamic. Based on Verschueren’s Adaptation Theory, Chinese scholar YuGuodong proposes Adaptation Model and points out the adaptability of code-switching:adaptation to language reality, adaptation to social conventions and adaptation topsychological motivations.This research adopts Verschueren’s Adaptation Theory and Yu Guodong’s AdaptationModel as theoretical framework and uses qualitative and quantitative methods. Four Englishteachers from Shandong YingCai college are chosen to study the current situation of teacher’suse of code-switching. The types, frequency, functions and motivation of code-switching innon-English major classrooms are analyzed through classroom recording and teachers’questionnaire. The student’s attitudes of teacher’s use of code-switching are analyzed throughstudents’questionnaire. Simply, the thesis studies two questions:1.What’s the situation of teacher’s use of code-switching in non-English major classroomteaching?2. What’s the students’attitudes towards teacher’s code-switching?Results of the study show that teachers use code-switching as a language choice to realizeteaching goals. This language choice is teacher’s adaptation to language reality, teacher’sroles and psychological motivations. Besides, the interaction between teachers and studentswill be improved more effectively if teachers use appropriate mother tongue in classroomstimely, thus the foreign language teaching will be promoted. In addition, most students holdpositive attitudes towards teacher’s use of code-switching. Therefore, as a middle carrier inforeign language teaching classrooms, mother tongue’s appropriate use in language teachingis reasonable.